The present invention relates to a method for on-site maintenance of guardrails.
In particular, the present invention relates to a method for the routine maintenance of metal guardrails, i.e. consisting of a series of metal section segments, usually formed from zinc-plated corrugated iron section. The said segments are usually bolted together into a continuous strip supported, at a given height off the ground, by posts usually located at the said joints and in turn connected by one or more bolts to the said continuous strip. The routine maintenance of a guardrail of the aforementioned type usually consists in detaching the metal section segments from the supporting posts and adjacent segments, and transferring them to a maintenance plant for cleaning and zinc-plating. The processed segments are then taken back and reassembled using new bolts, the original ones invariably being damaged when dismantling the segments.
Alternatively, the said segments are replaced by new ones, and stored for future use after processing.
The above method presents a number of major drawbacks, both economically and technically.
The major expense item involved is the labour required for dismantling and reassembling the guardrail. Whereas detaching adjacent segments off the supporting post usually requires the removal of one bolt, the separation of two adjacent segments usually involves removing eight, all of which are invariably replaced when reassembling the segments. Furthermore, once detached and separated, the segments must be transferred to a maintenance plant, and back to the assembly site after processing.
A major technical drawback of the above system is the relatively time-consuming job of dismantling and reassembling the guardrail, which inevitably results in prolonged inconvenience to traffic.